In the heart of Zhoucheng Village, where two giant banyan trees cast long shadows across a stone-paved square, stands the Longquan Monastery. Founded during the Xuande period of the early Ming Dynasty, this sanctuary faces east to meet the morning sun. Local legend says a spring bubbled up through the soil during its initial construction, giving the temple and the surrounding settlement—once called Longquan Yi—their names.

Step through the central gate into a courtyard where three great philosophies live in quiet harmony. On the ground floor of the Yuhuang Pavilion, statues of Sakyamuni Buddha, Confucius, and Taishang Laojun sit together. In front of them, a wooden Guanyin rests near representations of Mahakala and Bodhidharma. Above them, the Jade Emperor rules the second floor. To the north, the Wenchang Palace houses the deity of letters and his silent attendants, Tianlong and Diya. To the south, the Guandi Temple holds the martial god Guan Yu and his generals, Guan Ping and Zhou Cang. These martial figures greet visitors with carved, wooden smiles, a rare departure from the fierce depictions found elsewhere in China. The physical structure of the monastery reveals centuries of human touch.High above, the rough, hand-carved mortise-and-tenon joints of the Ming Dynasty still hold the roof timber together without a single nail.

The monastery remains a living center of Bai culture. During the Jiuhuang Festival in the ninth lunar month, the courtyard fills with the scent of burning incense and freshly fried rushan cheese. Bai women gather here wearing embroidered shoes and traditional "Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon" headdresses to pray for peace. During the Benzhu Festival, the temple serves as the starting point for the village patron deity procession. Villagers gather in the courtyard to share a communal vegetarian meal before marching past the 1895 ancient stage opposite the gates, their voices rising under the rustling banyan leaves.